Noodle Kingdom

175 Russell St, Melbourne CBDPhone: 9654 2828

This was a meal I ate last year, but Gem and Tris’ recent tweets about Noodle Kingdom (albeit in Preston) over the weekend reminded me that I had it in my photo archives. So the news is not current, but I assume very little has changed in the last 6 months. Except I no longer work in the CBD, so it’s only now and then that I get to lunch in the city. Woe is me, for the noodle lunch options in Parkville are pretty poor. And noodle lunch, how much doth I love thee!?

One of the things that sets Noodle Kingdom apart from its competitors is that there’s a chef in the front window hand-making noodles. I scarcely think I need to recommend this place further. I’ll just see you there!

On this occasion, I had the hand-made soup noodles with beef brisket, and because that gargantuan bowl of goodness wasn’t enough – say what!? – I ordered the leek puffs, too. They were a little disappointing, really. A bit oily, and the filling wasn’t at all interesting. I took to dipping it in my brisket soup, which tuned out to be a good idea!

This isn’t a place where you go for the service, or really the ambience either. Neither is fantastic, but neither is bad. You go for the noodles, and you stay for the chance that the range of Shanghainese style cold dishes will be available. I’d say the odds on any given day are 60-40 in your favour.

It should be noted that this place is open until 4am, their dumplings are pretty nasty and although I understand that 'lan zhou' is a village in China, their special 'lan zhou' noodles still fill me with dread just based on the name alone.

Duly noted. I will avoid the dumplings. Luckily it's not calling itself Dumpling and Noodle Kingdom. I think the 4am closing time works in its favour – wait, were you just there? After ramen!? Now I'm really impressed/offended.